Bizet's music was first performed in public. He described it as "badly played, badly heard."

1878:

Milk was delivered in glass bottles for the first time by one Alexander Campbell, in New York

1885:

Women's rights activist Alice Paul (founder of National Women's Party in 1913) born

1890:

Actor Monte Blue (Rootin' Tootin' Rhythm, Thunder Pass, Song of the Gringo, Wagon Wheels, So This is Paris, Orphans of the Storm) born

1902:

"Popular Mechanics" magazine was published for the first time

1903:

South African novelist Alan Paton ("Cry the Beloved Country") born

1904:

British troops massacre 1,000 dervishes in Somaliland

1910:

Baseball pitcher Schoolboy (Lynwood Thomas) Rowe born

1912:

Roger Lewis, aviation executive born

1913:

The first sedan-type car was unveiled at the National Automobile Show in New York City. The car was manufactured by the Hudson Motor Company

1923:

Auto racer Carroll Shelby born

1924:

Singer Don Cherry (Band of Gold) born

1925:

Aaron Copland's jazzy, dissonant Organ Symphony was performed in New York. The Organ Symphony's outer movements are a little hard on the ears even today. But the middle movement, a scherzo, is jumpy, fun music, well worth hearing

1926:

Producer Grant Tinker born

1928:

Producer David L. Wolper born

1929:

Actor Rod Taylor (The Birds, Masquerade, The Time Machine) some sources list 1930 born

1929:

Turkey adopts the European metric system

1929:

In the Soviet Union, the Bolsheviks reduce the work day to seven hours

1934:

The prime minister of Canada, Jean Chretien born

1934:

The German police raid the homes of dissident clergy in Berlin

1935:

Aviator Amelia Earhart began a trip from Honolulu to Oakland, California, that made her the first woman to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean

1938:

The first woman bank president, Frances Moulton, assumed her duties in Limerick, Maine

1940:

Charles Edison, son of the inventor, is appointed as Secretary of the Navy

Honda to build Japan's first U.S. passenger-car assembly plant in Ohio

1987:

The Denver Broncos edged the Cleveland Browns 23-to-20 in overtime and the New York Giants trounced the Washington Redskins 17-0, sending the two winning teams to the Super Bowl

1988:

Vice President George Bush met with representatives of independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh to answer questions about the Iran-Contra affair

1988:

The Soviet Union announced it would participate in the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics

1988:

World War Two flying ace Gregory "Pappy" Boyington died in Fresno, California, at age 75

1988:

At the 24th Annual People's Choice Awards "ER" was chosen favorite TV drama series for the fourth straight year and Seinfeld was chosen the favorite comedy for the third year running

1989:

President Reagan bade the nation farewell in an address from the Oval Office

1990:

Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev visited Lithuania, where he sought to assure supporters of independence that they would have a say in their republic's future

1990:

Martial law, imposed during the June 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement, was lifted in Beijing

1991:

The United States and Iraq intensified their rhetoric, with Secretary of State James A. Baker the Third telling Air Force pilots in Saudi Arabia, "We pass the brink at midnight January 15," and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein boasting of his army's readiness

1992:

The president of Algeria (Chadli Bendjedid) resigned, two weeks after Muslim fundamentalists had defeated his ruling party in legislative elections

1993:

Andrew Davis and the BBC Philharmonic recorded a whole bunch of brief Delius pieces for Teldec. It included a piece called "Paris" and another called "Walk to the Paradise Garden."

1993:

Former independent presidential candidate Ross Perot publicly returned to politics, recruiting Americans for a watchdog group which, he told CNN, would counter special interests that were preventing government reform and deficit reduction

1994:

NATO leaders concluded a two-day summit in Belgium by warning Bosnian Serbs of their willingness to order bombing raids in former Yugoslavia to relieve embattled Muslim enclaves. President Clinton, who attended the summit, then traveled to the Czech Republic for a short visit

1995:

52 people were killed when a Colombian airliner crashed as it was preparing to land near the Caribbean resort of Cartagena; a nine-year-old girl survived

1995:

Fifty-two people were killed when a Colombian airliner crashed as it was preparing to land near the Caribbean resort of Cartagena; a nine-year-old girl survived

1995:

President Clinton and Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama held a low-key summit in Washington, playing down differences over trade

1996:

Addressing pointed questions about the first lady, President Clinton offered a rousing defense of his wife, Hillary, during a news conference

1996:

The space shuttle "Endeavour" blasted off on a nine-day mission

1996:

Ryutaro Hashimoto was chosen the new prime minister of Japan

1996:

Funeral services were held for former French president Francois Mitterrand

1997:

President Clinton summoned top administration officials to a daylong planning session for his second term

1997:

An earthquake of magnitude seven-point-three shook Mexico City and the southern part of Mexico, but no deaths were reported

1998:

The Denver Broncos beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 24-to-21, to win the American Football Conference Championship; the Green Bay Packers defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 23-to-10, to claim the National Football Conference Championship

1998:

Utility workers and the National Guard struggled to clear roads and restore electric power to thousands of people in New England and New York state as cold weather descended on the battered region. Storms blamed on El Nino hammered the area with three days of freezing rain

1998:

Hundreds of prisoners rioted at a jail in southwest Colombia and by nightfall they were still holding 567 visitors hostage, most of them women, after freeing 18 hostages earlier in the day. The prisoners were calling for improvements in squalid jail conditions

1998:

Two Spanish lovers were literally caught with their pants down at church Sunday when members of a stunned congregation surprised them in the throes of passion. "They weren't actually having sex but the girl's trousers were down around her ankles and they were very touchy-feely," a police spokesman in the northern Spanish city of Valladolid said. The man was detained when he resisted police efforts to stop what the spokesman called "obscene acts."

1999:

President Clinton and House Republicans clashed in impeachment trial papers, with the White House claiming the perjury and obstruction allegations fell short of high crimes and misdemeanors and GOP lawmakers rebutting: "If this is not enough, what is?"

2000:

Whittling away more of the federal government's power over states, the US Supreme Court ruled, 5-to-4, that state employees cannot go into federal court to sue over age bias

2000:

Carlton Fisk and Tony Perez were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

2005:

Jobs unveils new products after cloud of secrecy and lawsuits

2005:

Third case of BSE reported in Canada

2005:

Bush nominates Chertoff for new Secretary of Homeland Security

2005:

Mamdouh Habib to be released from Guantanamo Bay without charge

2006:

Whole Foods moves to renewable energy

2006:

Former NSA employee alleges illegal spying

2006:

Chinese block of Wikimedia enters tenth week

2006:

Smoke reported on London Underground

2006:

Ukraine hurt by Russian gas deal

2006:

Comet Wild samples near home

2006:

Seven-year old Tennessee boy chased by police

2006:

Opera Singer Birgit Nilsson, 87 was buried today

2006:

Apple unveils new Intel-based Mac

2006:

UN warns neighbours of Turkey about bird flu

2006:

Stars pose for ITV ice-skating show (UK)

2007:

Canadian sextuplets could get blood transfusion, religion forbids it

2007:

Large blizzard sweeps through British Columbia, Northern Alberta and Saskatchewan

2007:

Ontario, Canada byelections announced

2007:

Bank of England raises interest rates

2007:

CBS blog criticizes stations' coverage of Tigger incident

2007:

US House votes Federal minimum wage increase

2007:

Bush unveils America's new Iraq plan

2008:

Hamas leader criticizes Bush's Middle East visit

2008:

Hezbollah network Al-Manar available to wider international audience

2008:

Opposition calls for mass rallies across Kenya

2008:

Snow falls in Baghdad for first time in 100 years

2008:

Mexican senator Andrés Henestrosa dies at 101

2008:

KDE 4 desktop environment released

2008:

FC Bayern Munich sign Jürgen Klinsmann as new coach

2008:

Sir Edmund Hillary dead at 88

2008:

Televised press conference Sunday to announce Golden Globes winners

2009:

Waves of arrests in Turkey on suspicion of involvement in 'Ergenekon' organization

2009:

Too Grimm? Mother Goose cartoonist sued by Colombian coffee growers

2009:

US salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter, brand recalls product

2009:

UN Security Council passes Gaza ceasefire resolution

2009:

Cristiano Ronaldo crashes Ferrari at Manchester Airport

2010:

Illinois high school boys basketball: Benet beats Carmel after losing previous close games